The Irony of Fate
by Ayolen
Summary: Contrary to what everyone believes, Lily and James have not had a single son. No. Harry had a twin brother named Elias Matthew Potter, better known as Severus Snape the one. -Time travel


_I don't own Harry Potter._

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They've talked about it several times already.

They also came to the conclusion.

Still, it didn't make it any less difficult...

When they talked about the prophecy.

When they talked about the commentary.

Later, as he looked at his exhausted wife, holding on to the two newborn babies.

He felt happy. But there was a sadness, knowing that the prophecies tend to fulfill themselves.

He rejected the later. As if by fleeing from knowledge, destiny will bound to change.

It was Lily who finally stopped him and pressed the matter.

That was Lily's idea.

They couldn't reject, they couldn't ignore. They had to find a solution, as soon as possible, before it was too late.

This prophecy destroyed everything.

_"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... _

_born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... _

_and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... _

_and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... _

_the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."_

They were already under the Fidelus spell. Hiding like frightened rabbits from the inevitable fate. Hiding instead of defying the darkness and face it.

Of course, the whole problem was born of being too defiant.

Dumbledore said the prophecy was obscure, not indicating who the child was. It may be their son or Longbottom... but Voldemort directed them. Voldemort was looking for them especially. Sends his loyal Death Eaters to remove the Longbottom barrier, but doesn't bother to fight them himself, despite the prophecy.

James saw the Death Eaters' shifts in search.

Voldemort seems to have already chosen his enemy.

It may have been from the fact that Neville was born on the 30th of the month, while the Potters really came out for the last day of July. When the seventh month died.

The wards won't last forever. The defenses are decomposable...

They could not sit like that and wait for the realization to take place from the outside. Wait for the enemies to attack them and expect to prevail them.

Maybe that's what they would have done a year ago.

Damn it, maybe that's what James would do now.

But his wife did not share the opinion. They were no longer teens, nor self-employed people who could take such risks.

No.

They were parents.

They had two sons.

They had a responsibility to bear.

No more endless life and leaps to danger. They had to worry about the life they brought to the world.

That was the sacrifices. James's adventurous spirit sacrifice, independent and irreplaceable Gryffindor pride... Even so, it was a sacrifice worth sacrificing.

Funny that against all odds, you can't imagine love until you have your own children.

Love does it to people.

True love strangles you until you can die for the other, but that love is more powerful than any imagination, until you are even ready to live for them.

Sometimes the true heroism is precisely this.

Looking at his two little boys now, he felt such an uplift, as if his heart was overflowing in a way he had never experienced before.

His blood and flesh. His children.

Little Harry James who looked so much like him, only his eyes were the bursting emerald stones of his mother. And his younger twin, Elias Matthew, whose body structure matched Lily's thin body, but his eyes were dark and deep like James' father.

He couldn't bear the thought of what he had to do.

After all, Gryffindor's famous heroism is not so easy in the moment of truth.

But he knew he had to do it.

They had to find a way to protect them. And they were not allowed to tell anyone. Dumbledore would only stop them from acting, when the common good before your eyes, you can't focus in particular.

He was like that too.

But, times are changing.

And in desperate situations, you get desperate.

They had to keep Elias away. According to the Dark Lord's logic, the child closest to the end of July is the chosen one.

It is time to defy again. Against Voldemort, Against Albus, Against Prophecy, Hell! Against all the world if needed!

And so they had to hide the young twin.

It sparked many debates, sleepless nights and forgotten meals, no long-term solution was effective. No solution seems possible.

Until Lily came up with the most absurd idea.

An idea that might pass.

They had to hide their son in the past.

Twenty years back. Lily's family can adopt him and he will grow up as his mother's twin. It was strange, but she could look after him, be with him, and he will have a warm and loving family without threat of the darkness.

And when he grows up, he will be their age, and when the Dark Lord comes to attack him, he will be mature enough to fight alongside his parents and eliminate evil forever.

It was a surreal plan. It was an absurd idea and full of weaknesses... but it was the best solution they could afford.

Wrapped in the waves of disappearance, James bursts into the Ministry of Magic in anticipation of the future good, and "Lent" a time turner.

And that's how sent James, his young son curled up safely in his shaky hands shuffling, to search the streets of Cokeworth for his future wife's family home.

Lily's words echo from the walls of his mind and his heart is pounding so loudly that he wondered how Elias had not yet woken up.

The streets looked dull and empty, he vaguely wondered if all the muggle houses looked like this. There were not enough people in the street to ask the intention.

He swerved toward a small grocery on the street corner, the salesman directing him to the Evans family's home after a few questions, he felt her curious eyes on his back, until he left her field of vision. In such a small town, people look for a piece of gossip to relieve the boredom of life.

Evans house was adjacent to the park, the only one, apparently, in the town, three lone children playing there this evening.

James took a deep breath, before he knocking on the door, shaking the bundle lightly in his hands. His son yawned and squinted slightly at the unfamiliar environment.

James knocked again. A few minutes passed, but there was no answer.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm the panic he felt rise in his stomach, what would he have done if no one was home? He didn't know how long the time turner could pull, every moment was important.

He sat down on the bench and looked out over the park, Elias squirming slightly and making a few voices in his private language. James looked at him affectionately, his son was such a comfortable child, smiling and quiet.

He couldn't allow anything to happen to him.

With a heavy heart, he looked around, the few people in the street integrated into the monotonous background of the place. A woman walked to a nearby bench, balancing the baskets she was carrying.

James came over and greeted him, asking to know where the Evans family was. It turned out he had just arrived on the day his wife was born, so her family was now in the hospital.

James mused quietly, at a loss for action.

"Can you... can you help me please?" Asked, not waiting for an answer he continued, "I can't wait here until they come back, but... I have to give him to the Evans..."

The woman looked frightened, her dark eyes wide with panic. "I-I can't, sir... my husband is waiting for me, I have nothing for babies... I'm sorry..."

"I know it's a lot to ask," Despair crept into the young father's voice, "but if you can only keep him for the few days until they come back... I'll pay you..." As if to prove, he rummaged in his pocket, pulled out some coins, recalls too late for not having Muggle money and pushing them back to his pocket.

The woman quietly followed with her eyes after his movement, not yet looking up, she gave a small nod, biting her lip nervously.

"Will you do it?" James smiled with slight relief, passing the toddler to the woman. "Thank you so much."

Elias looked at his retreating father and sobbed a little, James did come to him and kissed his forehead softly, whispering quietly to him.

The breakup was short and quiet, and James felt nothing but a sad feeling of emptiness in his chest as he watched the alien woman move away with his son.

He'll see him soon, twenty years older. He turned his connecting object between his hands and returned to the moment he left, his living room, Lily and Harry on the couch.

Nothing looks different.

He looked at his wife expectantly. Lily looked back at him confused.

"James, nothing has changed..."

James collapsed on the armchair. "What do you mean?" Whispered hoarsely, and straightened up a little, "I mean, even if something was changing, you wouldn't know it changed, because for you everything was one timeline, right?"

The redhead shook her head slightly and bit her lip.

"No, James. I had no twin brother. I had no brother, never."

The man felt all the wind coming out of the sails. A lump formed in his throat. "No..?" Managed to suffocate barely.

Lily shook her head once more and put old Harry between her arms into the nearby crib, before looking up again.

"Are you sure you were in the right place?"

James nodded slightly, "I found the house, but you were all in the hospital, because just... um... you were born."

Lily opened her eyes, her lips muting the word, "What?"

"I asked from one of the native to give him when you return..."

Lily put her hands on her mouth in horror, "James, what did you do..."

"Lily, I had nothing to do! I couldn't wait days for you to come back! She didn't look bad, a bit neglected, maybe, but not a criminal, I guess you would know if your childhood town was a dubious woman..."

"James, it was a derelict old place, everyone was a little dubious! You can't hand him over to a stranger!"

"And anyway you wanted me to give him to your father!" The bespectacled man snapped.

"He's his grandfather!"

"But he doesn't know it!"

"James! What did your not criminal woman do with my son?!"

"Nothing! She just took him to her house until you got back from the hospital."

Lily tightened her lips to a tiny line. "So where is he? Why didn't I have a brother?"

James let out a shaky breath and buried his face in his hands, "I-I don't know. She seemed really sincere in her intentions, she was going to convey him on to you... maybe your father wouldn't accept him? Are you sure there wasn't a boy who fits his description while living in Cokeworth?"

Lily looked unhappy. "James, there were a lot of kids! Even in a small place there are more than enough kids. How can I know them all?"

"Still, anyone! Anyone you remember would be good enough to explore their origins... black hair, dark eyes, relatively tiny to the average boy... do you remember anyone like that?"

Lily let out a desperate exhale, as suddenly her eyes widened in horror, "No..."

"What is it, Lils?!"

"James, urgently! How did this woman looked like?"

"About thirty. Long black hair, black eyes... Oh, actually, she was pretty much like him... thin and pale..."

Lily gasped quietly, her eyes wide as saucers and a desperate and worried expression on her face.

"Show me..." she whispered. "James, show me."

James obeyed without hesitation, pouring his last memory into the pensive and waiting for his wife to finish. His heart beats wildly against his ribs, and his breath holds in anticipation.

After what seemed eternal, but was no more than a few minutes, Lily returned to the present, her face even paler and her hands trembling slightly.

"She... it can't be..."

"Lily, what is it? Tell me." James begged.

The redheaded woman looked up at her husband, barely digesting the situation and not knowing how to pass on the news to her husband.

"James..." She gasped, a quiet sob coming from her lips. "This is him..."

"Do you know who this is?" James felt a faint spark of hope begin to flutter in his chest.

Lily closed her eyes and quietly thought, "So do you. He was a wizard in our year."

Oh. How could James forget that detail? Obviously his son wouldn't be a squib!

Before he could think about which boy fit his son's description, Lily smashed the news.

"This woman was Eileen Snape."

James's eyes widened steadily as the pieces of the puzzle clicked.

Oh.

_Oh._

Prophecy is doomed.

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_A/N: Yes, I know this is similar to my other story "Forward to the Past", but still, I felt the need to write it too._

_I still don't know if to leave that one shot, I'd really like to make it a story with a lot of chapters, but I have no plot to incorporate here. I'll think about it more, but if anyone has any ideas, invitations or anything else you'd like to see later, I'd be more than happy to hear from you!_

_Thanks so much for reading!_

_Please review! _


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